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OLD ABE 





The eagle seized the lamb in its great talons and 
flew away 
















OLD ABE 

The Story of a Lincoln Sheep 


By 

JOHN Y. BEATY 

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THOMAS S. ROCKWELL COMPANY 

CHICAGO 

1931 















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Copyright, 1931, by 

THOMAS S. ROCKWELL CO. 

CHICAGO 



Printed in United States of America 


CONTENTS 


I Old Abe Arrives at Mosely Hill Farm 7 
The peace of a barnyard is disturbed—Old 
Abe decides to be leader—trouble begins. 

II Old Abe Meets His Downfall 14 

A sheep goes exploring—he receives an un¬ 
expected bath. 

III Old Abe Makes Himself Useful 21 

A lawn is protected from invaders. 

IV A Bunt and a Squeeze 25 

Old Abe searches for adventure—he learns 
that a bear has strong arms—another mystery 
to be explained. 

V Old Abe Gets Acquainted With 

Long Bill 30 

A gander challenges a sheep to battle—Old 
Abe discovers he cannot fight a swimming 
foe. 

VI It Doesn't Pay to Tease a Ram 38 

Old Abe teaches a disagreeable boy a severe 
lesson. 

VII Old Abe Wins a Medal 41 

The leader of the floc\ avenges the death of 
a lamb—he receives a medal of honor. 


51 


VIII Lassie Punishes Old Abe 

Old Abe chooses chickens for his playmates 
—Lassie to the rescue . 

IX Old Abe Makes Friends With 

Sunshine Rose 54 

A disagreement turns into a friendship — 
Sunshine Rose helps Old Abe. 

X A Fight With an Eagle 60 

Old Abe again saves his floc\ and becomes 
a hero. 


Chapter I 


OLD ABE ARRIVES AT MOSELY 
HILL FARM 

I T WAS a beautiful morning in June, and 
everything about Mosely Hill Farm was 
quiet and peaceful, disturbed only by an occa¬ 
sional flutter in the orchard pasture where a 
flock of chickens was picking up food under 
the trees. 

This peace and quiet, however, was not to 
last the whole day. About ten o’clock, Farmer 
John returned from town, and a part of his 
load was a crate containing a ram, a Lincoln 
ram, which he had purchased to head his flock 
of sheep. 

Backing the truck up to the barnyard gate, 
he placed a plank so that one end was on the 
ground and the other was on the back of the 
truck. He was thus able to slide the crate and 
its woolly contents to the ground. He then 
drove the truck a little distance away, and 


7 


8 


OLD ABE 


returned to the crate with a hammer. He 
removed the nails from the sliding door at one 
end of the crate, then stood on top and lifted 
the door out of its place. 

There was a low, long “Baa-a-a-a” from 
inside the crate. Presently a white head 
appeared, and Old Abe viewed his new home. 

Perhaps you think “Old Abe” is a peculiar 
name for a sheep. But this particular sheep 
belonged to that breed which is known as the 
“Lincoln.” With Abraham Lincoln in mind, 
it is not so strange that the man from whom 
Farmer John bought the new head for his 
flock, called him Old Abe. 

Farmer John did not know at the time how 
wise it was for him to stand on top of the 
crate instead of on the ground beside it. It 
was not long, however, until he learned that 
the new arrival had ideas of his own as to 
where he wanted to be. He had a determina¬ 
tion and will power. Or perhaps it is more 
appropriate to call it a head power. 

Old Abe stepped out of the crate. The first 
thing that attracted his attention was Lassie, 


OLD ABE ARRIVES AT MOSELY HILL FARM 9 

Farmer John’s Collie dog, that stood watching 
the procedure from a vantage point near the 
corner of the barn. Old Abe lowered his 
shapely head to the ground, fixed his eyes on 
Lassie, and started to move toward her with 
another low, long “Baa-a-a-a.” 

At first he moved rather slowly and his legs 
were held rather stiffly. But after a few steps, 
he moved so swiftly that he was nothing much 
but a white streak flying through the air. 

Lassie was too quick for him, however, and 
dodged back of the corner of the barn. Old 
Abe flew past, unable to stop at the corner. 
Lassie then ran to where Farmer John was 
moving the crate through the gate into the 
barnyard. 

Old Abe was not at all satisfied with the re¬ 
sults of his first announcement that he intended 
to be the boss of the barnyard. As he stopped 
his mad rush near the hog house, he jumped 
into the air, whirled around quickly, lowered 
his head again, and said, “Baa-a-a-a,” quite 
fiercely. 

Farmer John and Lassie stood on the out- 




10 


OLD ABE 


side of the gate to see what would happen next. 
They did not have to wait long. Old Abe 
seemed to be anxious for action after spending 
several days in the small crate which had 
brought him from his old home to his new one. 
He had traveled several hundred miles on the 
railway train. This was not at all pleasing to 
one with the temperament of Old Abe, accus¬ 
tomed as he was to nothing but outdoor life. 

He did not like the idea of Farmer John and 
Lassie watching him from the gate. He 
dashed straight toward them. Lassie jumped 
back as she saw him coming, but Farmer John, 
knowing that the gate would stop Old Abe, 
stood still. 

“Bang!” went Old Abe’s head against one of 
the lower panels of the gate. “Snap,” went a 
board. It hit Farmer John on the knee. So 
terrific was his speed that Old Abe was thrown 
back several feet and rolled over and over, 
finally landing in a heap near a water trough. 

He was not such a beautiful animal now as 
when he had walked out of the crate. His 
white wool was dirty, and in rolling he had 


OLD ABE ARRIVES AT MOSELY HILL FARM 11 

picked up many pieces of dirt each about as 
large as a marble. 

“Well, well, well,” said Farmer John, “so 
you are going to start a war on Mosely Hill 
Farm, are you?” 

Old Abe soon regained his composure and 
had risen to his feet again. In the meantime 
Lassie had run to the opposite side of the barn 
and had crawled under a gate into the barn lot. 
She did not venture so close, however, as she 
had the first time. In fact, she stood near to 
the gate on the opposite side of the lot from 
where she had entered. 

Of course Old Abe saw her. He lowered his 
head, uttered his customary low “Baa-a-a-a,” 
and started across the lot. Lassie was more 
familiar with the layout of Mosely Hill and as 
soon as she saw him start toward her, she 
dashed through an open door into the barn. 
She jumped into the manger of one of the 
horse stalls from which she could jump into 
the driveway and out into the barnyard again. 
She stopped, however, when she reached the 
manger to see what Old Abe would do. 


12 


OLD ABE 


Old Abe dashed into the barn after her. 
When he got to the middle of the barn floor, 
he stopped short and looked around. He 
stretched out his nose and said, “Baa-a-a-a.” 
Lassie stood still on top of the manger watching 
the sheep. Finally Old Abe saw her. He 
realized, however, that he had a new problem. 
Instead of being on a level with him, Lassie 
was several feet above him. He did not know 
how to attack, except where he could dash 
along on the same level as the object he in¬ 
tended to injure. 

When he came to the middle of the stall, 
therefore, he stopped and stood looking up at 
Lassie. Lassie was ready to spring through the 
opening into the driveway. But as she knew 
something about sheep also, she did not spring, 
but stood there watching Old Abe. 

In the meantime Farmer John discovered 
what had happened and realized that it was 
about time to bring a halt to the proceedings. 
He closed the door to the barn through which 
the dog and sheep had entered. 

Farmer John then went around to the drive- 


OLD ABE ARRIVES AT MOSELY HILL FARM 13 


way. There he found Lassie on top of the 
manger with Old Abe looking up toward the 
manger with deep disgust in his eyes. 

“All right, Lassie/’ he said, “you have done 
your duty. We will give Old Abe a chance 
to cool off before we let him out again.” 

Little did Farmer John realize what exciting 
times were ahead, for Old Abe was not the 
kind that tamed quickly. 











Chapter II 


OLD ABE MEETS HIS DOWNFALL 
7 TER the experience of the first day, 



L 1-Farmer John felt that Old Abe must be 
given a lesson that would teach him his proper 
place on Mosely Hill Farm. It would hardly 
do, he thought, to allow this newcomer to take 
charge of the place. Furthermore, Farmer 
John did not want any more broken gates. 

So, to teach Old Abe a lesson he put him 
into the slough pasture with the cattle. After 
Farmer John closed the gate, Old Abe strolled 
about looking for someone to conquer. 

Farmer John quietly walked back to the 
barn, and Old Abe stood looking through the 
fence in disgust. 

It was not his idea of a good time to be all 
by himself. He wanted someone to fight. 
Farmer John watched him from the tool shed 
which had a window that opened toward the 


14 


OLD ABE MEETS HIS DOWNFALL 


IS 


slough pasture. Old Abe could not divert his 
interest from the barnyard for some time. But 
finally he turned about and started walking 
along the fence. Before he got out of sight, 
Farmer John changed his lookout to the house. 
From there he could get a good view of the 
whole slough pasture. 

Old Abe walked slowly along the fence, fre¬ 
quently throwing his head into the air in de¬ 
fiance of the whole world. Presently he came 
to the top of the hill. Near the bottom, the 
herd of cows was grazing. This delighted the 
old ram, for here was something on which to 
try his strength. The fact that the cattle were 
much larger than he, seemed to make no dif¬ 
ference. His mind was full of the victories he 
had experienced the day before. He wanted 
to win more victories. 

He charged down the hill, apparently with¬ 
out any plan except to encounter one of the 


cows. 


It so happened that Old Spotty Cow was 
grazing with her head toward the hill and Old 
Abe made for her. 




16 


OLD ABE 


Old Spotty saw him coming, stopped her 
grazing and fixed her eyes upon the charging 
white ball of wool. Cows, you know, have the 
ability to use their heads to protect themselves 
the same as sheep, and Old Spotty Cow’s head 
was much larger than that of Old Abe’s. 

Both animals had their heads down, but their 
eyes were on each other. Old Abe was coming 
at a fast pace, but Old Spotty Cow stood her 
ground. Of course the ram noticed this and 
he slowed up a bit as he neared the cow. But 
he did not stop. 

His forehead landed squarely on the fore¬ 
head of Old Spotty Cow, and as it did so, the 
cow lifted her head and threw the sheep over 
her back. The force with which Old Abe had 
charged crumpled his body so that it turned 
completely over on to Old Spotty Cow’s neck, 
and as she threw her head upward, Old Abe 
flew through the air and landed in a white heap 
near to the middle of the stream that ran along 
one edge of the slough. 

Old Abe was so stunned by the blow that 
Farmer John was afraid he would drown. But 





Old Abe flew through the air and landed in the 
stream 


17 































OLD ABE MEETS HIS DOWNFALL 


19 


the ram lifted his head above the water before 
it was too late. However, he lay there for 
nearly a minute before he arose. 

In the meantime, Spotty Cow had ap¬ 
proached the bank, together with the other 
cows, and the sight that met Old Abe’s eyes 
was not at all pleasant to him. There were 
fourteen horned heads waiting to receive him 
if he came out of the water. He was lying 
there blinking when Farmer John arrived. 

“Well, you old fighting ram,” said Farmer 
John, “was that a sufficient lesson for you? 
You must remember that you cannot boss the 
whole farm. You must learn to be meek and 
use your head only for protecting yourself or 
your flock. This is a peaceful farm. We want 
no fighting here.” 

The cows moved a short distance away as 
Farmer John came up, but Old Abe lay quite 
still. Farmer John waited a bit, and finally the 
sheep painfully regained his feet. He blinked 
his eyes and looked one way and then the other 
and then scrambled to the shore of the stream 
and walked slowly toward the barn. 


20 


OLD ABE 


Farmer John kept the cattle back. If he had 
not, they probably would have attacked the 
sheep again. 

When the pair reached the gate, Farmer 
John opened it and Old Abe walked dejectedly 
through. He found a pile of straw under the 
shed adjoining the barn on the west side and 
lay down. 

“Well,” said Farmer John, “you have had 
your lesson. You have learned that there is 
someone else on this farm that can boss you. 
Now perhaps you will tend strictly to your own 
business.” 

It was a severe lesson for poor Old Abe, but 
it was a lesson he had to learn. From that time 
on, he was not so ready to attack without a 
reason. 



Chapter III 


OLD ABE MAKES HIMSELF USEFUL 

B ETWEEN the house and the barn was a 
beautiful lawn. Farmer John prided 
himself upon keeping this lawn neat. It re¬ 
quired a great deal of work, however, to mow 
it, and so he frequently turned his small flock 
of sheep on to the lawn. 

The sheep grazed the grass and in this way 
mowed the lawn even better than it could be 
done by machine. Furthermore, they ate all 
of the weeds. Sheep seem to like weeds even 
better than grass, and the lawn was always in 
better shape when the sheep were used to mow 
it than when they were kept in the pasture. 

There was no fence along the front side of 
the lawn, and Farmer John wondered whether 
he could trust Old Abe with the flock or 
whether he would try to run away. But Old 
Abe showed a good deal of meekness after his 


21 


22 


OLD ABE 


encounter with Old Spotty Cow and finally he 
was trusted to go with the flock. 

While sheep make good lawn mowers, pigs 
do not. Pigs will eat grass for a time and then 
will begin to tear up the grass by rooting in the 
soil. Sheep never do this. 

One day when the sheep were doing their 
weekly lawn mowing, someone left the gate of 
the hog pen partly open. Billy Berk was the 
first to discover it. He worked at the gate 
until he opened it wider and then walked out. 
He was quickly followed by eight or ten other 
pigs. 

Lassie happened to be in the field with 
Farmer John and so could not drive the pigs 
back. But Old Abe saw what had happened. 
He extended his nose straight before him, fixed 
his eyes on Billy Berk, and started walking 
slowly, but with stiff knees, along the fence. 
Billy saw him coming. But Billy had not yet 
been introduced to the new head of the flock 
and did not expect any trouble. 

Old Abe approached him from the side and 
before Billy could jump out of the way, Old 



OLD ABE MAKES HIMSELF USEFUL 23 

Abe had hit him squarely on the shoulder. 
Billy Berk rolled over and over and when he 
scrambled to his feet, he turned his head this 
way and that, not knowing which way to go. 
Old Abe was close behind him, and Billy of 
course started to run. 

When a little pig gets out of his pen through 
the gate, he usually dashes back to the gate to 
get into his pen again. This is just exactly 
what Billy Berk did. He dashed through the 
gate, squealing, and on into the hog house. 

Instead of following him, however, Old Abe 
turned his attention to the other hogs. After 
treating another hog in about the same way 
as he had treated Billy Berk, the whole herd 
dashed for the gate and rushed into the hog 
house. 

Old Abe lifted his nose into the air, snorted, 
and walked around as though he were king. 

When Farmer John returned from the field 
a little later, he discovered the open gate. The 
sheep, however, were feeding quietly at the 
other end of the lawn. The hogs were all in 
the hog house. Farmer John scratched his 


24 


OLD ABE 


head a long time before he was able to de¬ 
termine what had happened. He had to have 
the help of his wife to figure out some of the 
details. She happened to see Old Abe drive 
the pigs back into the hog house and told the 
story to her husband that evening. 

“Well, Old Abe is making himself useful 
after all,” said Farmer John. “I think he is 
somewhat like certain people I know. Before 
he can make himself of real value in his world, 
he has to find his place. Old Spotty Cow 
showed him that he could not fight just for 
the sake of fighting, and now he seems to be 
satisfied to use his head like a ramrod only 
when it is necessary.” 


Chapter IV 


A BUNT AND A SQUEEZE 

W HILE Old Abe was always ready to pro¬ 
tect his flock, there were some days when 
he seemed to be more of a fighter than on others. 
Some days he tried to find some animal with 
which to fight. It was on one of these days 
that he had a serious encounter with a bear. 

The flock had been grazing peacefully all 
morning, and about noon the sheep had all 
found a shady place under trees in the pasture. 

Old Abe lay down for a time. After a short 
rest, he leaped to his feet, determined to go in 
search of adventure. He walked along the 
fence eyeing the pasture on the other side. He 
could see no other animals but perhaps if he 
could get across that fence he could find some 
excitement. 

He finally came to the top of a hill. He 
realized that he could not jump over the 


25 


26 


OLD ABE 



pasture fence. At the brow of the hill the 
fence of course dipped downward, and Old 
Abe, after some investigation, decided that he 
could jump over the fence if he would jump 
toward the bottom of the hill. 

He backed away from the brow of the hill, 
keeping his eyes on a point where he thought 
he could clear the top wire. His mind was 
made up. He dashed madly back again. As 
he reached the top, he gave a leap into the air. 
Sure enough, he cleared the top wire. But his 
journey was not yet over. As his body began 
to drop toward the ground, he realized that 
he would strike the ground about half way 
down. Because of the steepness of the hill, he 
could not land on his feet, so he pulled them 
up close to his body and landed like a big 
ball of wool. Over and over he rolled and 
finally was stopped by a clump of bushes at 
the bottom of the hill. 

It is hard to believe that he could have made 
such a jump without breaking one of his legs. 
But he was not hurt and was soon up on his 
feet again. 



A BUNT AND A SQUEEZE 27 

Then he started out to see what he could find. 
He climbed to the top of the hill again and 
started to trot rather rapidly toward the next 
farm. As he approached the neighbor’s barn, 
he came to a rather deep pit. A pathway led 
into it, but Old Abe was content to stand at 
the top of the pit and gaze on its occupant. 

It was a bear. Farmer John’s neighbor had 
captured the bear when it was a small cub and 
always kept it in this pit, chained to a stake. 
The bear had now grown to full size, however, 
and was really too much of a match for Old 
Abe. But Old Abe did not stop to consider 
that. He was looking for adventure, and here 
was his opportunity. 

He trotted around to the pathway that led 
into the pit and, without any hesitation, dashed 
in. The bear was standing on his four feet as 
Abe approached, and really was not expecting 
a fight. Old Abe dashed toward him. Just 
before the ram’s head struck the bear, he reared 
just enough to catch the full force of Old Abe’s 
charge on his breast. The bear was so heavy 
that Old Abe was stopped. The bear quickly 


28 


OLD ABE 


brought his paws down on to the back of the 
sheep. 

Of course you know that while a sheep uses 
his head in his attack, a bear does not. The 
bear’s protection is his strong, fore legs which 
he uses to squeeze. What a powerful squeeze 
this bear had! The bear did not stop to see 
whether he had the sheep right side up or not. 
But quickly put his arms around Old Abe’s 
body and put his powerful muscles into action. 

Fortunately for Old Abe, the bear did not 
have a good hold, and the sheep’s body slipped 
out of the bear’s embrace. The ram seized this 
opportunity to dash out of reach. The bear 
was fastened with a chain, and as long as Old 
Abe was content to behave himself, he was not 
in any further danger. But after he had re¬ 
gained his breath from the former charge, he 
determined to charge again. 

By now the bear knew what to expect and 
he was ready. That is, he was ready for his 
kind of a fight. If Old Abe had jumped at the 
bear’s throat, the bear would have caught him 
in his arms and would have squeezed him to 



A BUNT AND A SQUEEZE 29 

death. But Old Abe was not a dog. And the 
sheep’s method of attack is with the head close 
to the ground. 

This gave Old Abe the advantage. This time 
his blow landed on the bear’s stomach and 
Bruin rolled over in a heap while Old Abe 
walked with stiff legs and nose in the air, up 
the path and out of the pit. 

As he reached the top, he whirled around, 
put his nose high in the air, snorted, whirled 
again and dashed for home. 

Instead of going back to the pasture from 
which he had come, he went to the other corner 
of the field, and there Farmer John had to go 
to find him. 

That night when the rest of the flock had 
returned to the barn, Old Abe was missing. 
Farmer John of course started out to look for 
him. He had not gone far until he heard Old 
Abe’s call, “Baa-a-a-a.” When the ram was 
found, Farmer John had another mystery. 

“How in the world did you get to the other 
side of the fence?” asked Farmer John, but of 
course Old Abe never answered the question. 


Chapter V 


OLD ABE GETS ACQUAINTED WITH 
LONG BILL 

O LD ABE and his flock of sheep were 
grazing in the slough pasture. A part 
of the slough pasture is high ground. The rest 
of it is low and wet. Along the bottom of the 
hill is a stream that is filled with water the year 
around. It is a beautiful little stream with a 
gravel bottom and clear water. 

On this particular day, Old Abe was not at 
all anxious for a fight. He was satisfied to 
graze with the flock, only keeping his eyes open 
for danger. He always felt the responsibility 
of protecting the other sheep. But on some 
days he wanted to fight just for pure excite¬ 
ment. This, however, was not one of those 
days. 

As the flock came to the edge of the hill that 
led down to the stream, Old Abe saw Farmer 
John’s geese at the bottom. Just as Old Abe 


30 


GETS ACQUAINTED WITH LONG BILL 31 


was the head of his flock of sheep, so Long Bill, 
the huge gander, was the master of his flock 
of geese. 

At first Old Abe paid little attention to the 
geese. But when the sheep came nearer to 
the stream as they grazed on the hillside, Long 
Bill attracted his attention. The gander seemed 
to be purposely working his way nearer to Old 
Abe. His long neck was stretched out straight 
ahead near to the ground. Finally the two 
were only a short distance apart. 

Long Bill uttered a long tantalizing “His-s-s.” 

This was too much for Old Abe. How dare 
this insignificant gander challenge him, the 
master of his flock? Old Abe stiffened his 
legs. Long Bill hissed again. 

They were a little too close for a charge, 
so Old Abe with legs stiff and head lowered, 
backed away slowly. Finally, he concluded 
that he was the right distance for a charge and 
started forward. 

In the meantime, Long Bill hissed again and 
again. Old Abe’s body charged straight toward 
the gander. But just as he was about to strike, 





32 


OLD ABE 


Long Bill flew into the air and Old Abe dashed 
under him and plunged into the stream head 
first. 

If there was anything that Old Abe disliked 
more than everything else, it was to get wet. 
Sheep are something like cats. They have a 
great dislike for water. Perhaps one reason is 
that when a sheep is soaked, its wool holds 
so much of the water that it is very heavy. 
Furthermore, its skin is so tender that the 
effects of the cold bath are likely to be bad. 

Old Abe had not taken into consideration 
that a gander can lift himself into the air as 
quickly as Long Bill had been able to. So 
away Abe bounded into the middle of the 
stream. Scrambling to his feet as quickly as 
he could, Old Abe waded to the shore. But 
after he had regained his composure, he found 
that he was on the opposite side of the stream. 

It apparently occurred to Long Bill that here 
was his opportunity to show his superior ability 
and at the same time to tease the big ram. 
Long Bill jumped into the water and swam 
slowly about, now and then going close to the 





Bac\ and forth he swam, hissing at Old Abe 


33 







































• - 



t 


\ 


V 










GETS ACQUAINTED WITH LONG BILL 35 

opposite shore, sticking his long neck toward 
Old Abe and hissing. 

Of course Old Abe would not jump into 
the water. His falling into the stream when 
he charged at Long Bill was purely an accident. 
So Long Bill was perfectly safe from further 
attack, and he knew it. 

Back and forth he swam, hissing at the ram 
and enjoying himself fully. In the meantime, 
Old Abe was miserable. Here he was, being 
made fun of, and he could not fight back be¬ 
cause of the water. No matter how angry he 
became, he could not make up his mind to 
step into the stream. 

It was here that Farmer John found the pair 
after the flock of sheep and the geese had 
both returned to the barnyard. Farmer John 
missed Old Abe and Long Bill and wondered 
what might have happened. So he walked 
along the top of the hill in the slough pasture 
and finally found them, Long Bill gaily swim¬ 
ming up and down the stream, and Old Abe 
standing dejectedly on the opposite shore. 

Farmer John laughed. He realized what 


36 


OLD ABE 


had happened. He knew that Old Abe had 
learned another lesson. 

“Perhaps,” he said, “by the time you are on 
Mosely Hill Farm five years, you will begin 
to realize that there are others who have rights 
as well as you.” 

There is no bridge across the stream in the 
slough pasture, and it is so wide that it is diffi¬ 
cult for a person to get across; thus Farmer 
John kept a boat tied to a post at the north 
end of the pasture, and this was the only way 
he could get Old Abe back to the barnyard for 
the night. He rowed across with the boat and 
found Old Abe ready to be taken home. In¬ 
stead of dashing away or lowering his head 
and rushing toward Farmer John, he stood 
still and allowed himself to be picked up and 
placed in the boat. 

When he was on the opposite side, he started 
for the barnyard. In the meantime, Long Bill 
had realized that his day’s fun was over and 
had climbed out of the stream and reached the 
barnyard ahead of Old Abe. 

Farmer John put Old Abe in the barn that 


GETS ACQUAINTED WITH LONG BILL 37 

night and gave him plenty of dry straw, realiz¬ 
ing that the ram must have an opportunity to 
dry out where it was warm. 

“I wonder,” said Farmer John, as he told the 
story at the supper table, “if Long Bill is going 
to get it into his head now that he can be the 
boss of the whole farm.” 



Chapter VI 


IT DOESN’T PAY TO TEASE A RAM 

O NE of Farmer John’s neighbors had no 
sheep, but he did have a son who de¬ 
lighted in teasing any animal that he thought 
could not harm him. 

Whenever Farmer John’s sheep were in the 
west pasture, this neighbor boy would come 
to the fence that divided his father’s farm and 
Mosely Hill Farm. He usually brought a long 
pole with him and whenever Old Abe came 
close enough, he would tease him with his pole. 

Old Abe, on several occasions, had charged 
the fence, but, of course, this did the neighbor 
boy no harm, and did not satisfy Old Abe. 
Finally the teasing had gone on for such a long 
time that Old Abe refused to charge any more. 

One day the neighbor boy came to Mosely 
Hill Farm. It happened that the sheep were 
in the barn lot at the time. 


38 


IT DOESN’T PAY TO TEASE A RAM 39 

This boy was a loud talker, and as he talked 
to Farmer John, Old Abe heard his voice and 
recognized it. Farmer John and the neighbor 
boy started across the barn lot to go to the hog 
house, but just as they reached the corner of 
the barn, something happened that changed 
their plans entirely. 

The neighbor boy was a little ahead of 
Farmer John and as he stepped past the corner 
of the barn, a white woolly object bounded 
through the air and hit the boy squarely on 
the seat of his pants. The boy and Old Abe 
rolled on the ground as a result of the impact. 
They both righted themselves about the same 
time and the boy saw quickly that Old Abe 
had not finished his punishment. Naturally, 
the boy started to run. 

He ran toward the hog house, but Old Abe 
was quicker. Another well-aimed blow threw 
the boy into the woven-wire fence, and the 
fence threw him back again into the barn lot. 
This time he started to run in the opposite 
direction, thinking to reach the gate and get 
over it before the ram could catch him. 












40 


OLD ABE 


Again Old Abe was too quick for him and 
sent him sprawling on the ground a third time. 
The next attempt enabled the boy to reach 
the gate. But before he could lift his foot to 
climb over, Old Abe landed a fourth well- 
aimed blow. 

In the meantime, Farmer John stood near 
the corner of the barn laughing. The sight 
was so funny that no one could have avoided 
that. The neighbor boy’s fear and the funny 
way in which he ran, together with the perfect 
aim of Old Abe every time he made his attack, 
was enough to cause anyone who saw it to 
remember it forever. 

The boy finally landed on the outside of the 
barn lot gate and as soon as he could pick 
himself up, he started for home, running as 
fast as he could, never looking around. 

After he had gone out of sight, Old Abe 
turned around and walked toward Farmer 
John. 

“Well, old fellow,” said Farmer John, “you 
certainly got your revenge this time. I don’t 
believe that boy will tease you any more.” 


Chapter VII 


OLD ABE WINS A MEDAL 

I T WAS necessary for Farmer John to move 
his flock of sheep from one pasture to an¬ 
other and that is why they happened to be in 
the woods pasture on the day of this incident. 
Ordinarily, the sheep were in one of the open 
pastures. But the grass in these pastures had 
become rather short, and in order to enable the 
sheep to find enough food, Farmer John had 
turned them into the woods. 

The sheep had finished their noon rest and 
were starting to graze again, working along 
the side of the hill in that part of the pasture 
which was farthest from the house. 

Old Abe, as usual, was on a vantage point 
above the flock, watching for danger. He was 
especially alert this day, because this pasture 
was not familiar to him, and he was suspicious 
that danger might appear most any minute. 


41 


42 


OLD ABE 


It was fortunate for the flock that it did have 
a protector. Many of the sheep might have 
been lost otherwise. 

One of the lambs had wandered a little 
farther away than he should have from the rest 
of the flock. Old Abe saw a black object dash 
out from behind a huge rock and seize the lamb 
so quickly that it could not cry out. The ani¬ 
mal rushed back to its hiding place with the 
lamb in its mouth. 

Old Abe was a little too far away to make 
an immediate attack upon the enemy. So he 
circled about and came to the opposite side 
of the rock from which the animal had jumped. 
As soon as he came to a point where he could 
see behind the rock, he discovered that a huge 
wolf was tearing the little lamb to pieces. 

Old Abe stiffened his legs, lowered his head, 
uttered a long, low “Baa-a-a-a” and dashed upon 
the wolf. The wolf was so intent upon his 
meal that he did not prepare himself for the 
blow. Old Abe struck with all the force of 



OLD ABE WINS A MEDAL 


43 


high sharp rock near the foot of the hill. His 
body landed in such a way as to break his 
backbone. 

Perhaps such a fall would never occur again. 
It so happened that the hill was very steep at 
this point, and the wolf was heavy enough that 
when he hit upon the sharp rock, striking the 
sharp edge about the middle of his back, the 
weight of his body bent his back so sharply and 
so effectively that the backbone was broken. 

There he lay. He was not yet dead when 
Farmer John found him later. But he would 
never again attack the flock. 

Old Abe, after seeing that his victory was 
complete, led the flock back to the gate. 

Old Abe called to Farmer John with his long, 
low “Baa-a-a-a.” 

Farmer John was repairing the tool shed and 
heard the call. He wondered why the flock 
should have come to the gate so early in the 
afternoon. But the call was so many times 
repeated that he decided to investigate. He 
went to the gate and looked over the sheep, but 
could see nothing unusual. 


44 


OLD ABE 


Then it occurred to him to count them and 
he discovered that one lamb was missing. 

“Well, well,” he said, “Old Abe, something 
must have happened. Perhaps you do need 
my assistance after all. Just wait and I will 
get my shotgun and we will investigate.” 

Farmer John soon returned to the woods pas¬ 
ture with his shotgun and his collie dog, Lassie, 
at his heels. They followed along the west 
fence of the pasture to the far end. Lassie 
scampered about here and there. 

At first, nothing unusual was discovered. 
When Farmer John had almost made up his 
mind that nothing had occurred, Lassie began 
to bark in a most unusual way some distance 
ahead. Farmer John hurried along until he 
finally came to the top of the hill. Near 
the bottom he saw Lassie barking vigorously 
at a black object on the top of a huge rock. 

He realized that his search was probably at 
an end. He walked down the hill and circled 
around, his shotgun ready in case of danger. 
Finally he got to a point where he could see 
what Lassie was barking at. 


OLD ABE WINS A MEDAL 


45 


“What in the world has happened?” he 
said to himself. “That certainly is a wolf lying 
across the rock. But how in the world did he 
get there? Did someone shoot him and place 
him there? No, he seems to be alive. He 
moves his head a little now and then.” 

Farmer John moved closer. Lassie, in the 
meantime, was barking and jumping about. 

Farmer John soon realized that the wolf 
could not move from the stone. He was alive 
and could move his head, but that was all. 

What a mystery it was. Farmer John could 
see no reason why the wolf should be in that 
peculiar position. There was blood running 
from the wolf’s nose, but that was the only 
injury that could be seen. 

Finally, Farmer John decided to put the wolf 
out of its misery, and a shot ended the wild ani¬ 
mal’s career. 

“Lassie,” said Farmer John, “our search is 
not yet over. We must try to figure out how 
this wolf got on to this sharp rock. It is a deep 
mystery to me.” 

When Lassie saw that the wolf was dead, she 




46 


OLD ABE 


began to circle about, sniffing here and there. 
Higher up on the hill she gave a signal which 
Farmer John understood well. It was a long, 
low whine. 

Farmer John hurried to her side. There he 
found the torn body of the missing lamb. He 
stood where the lamb’s body lay and looked 
toward the rock on which the wolf had been 
killed. It was a straight line, from where he 
stood to the wolf. He examined the ground 
about the rock where the little lamb lay and 
saw the footprints of Old Abe. Many times 
Farmer John had examined such footprints 
when he knew where Old Abe had charged. 
Here it was easy to see that the wolf had been 
thrown down the hill by the ram. 

It was such a distance, however, from the 
little lamb’s body to where the wolf lay that 
Farmer John could hardly believe it possible 
that Old Abe could have thrown the wolf’s 
heavy body that far. But there was the evi¬ 
dence, and it could not be disputed. 

Farmer John placed the body of the little 
lamb in a tree. 












OLD ABE WINS A MEDAL 


49 


“I don’t want to leave temptation in your 
way,” he said to Lassie. “If you were to get 
the taste of this little lamb’s blood, you might 
be tempted to kill one for yourself sometime.” 

He scraped the earth with his feet about the 
spot where the lamb had lain and mixed the 
blood with the earth thoroughly. Then he laid 
several flat stones over the pile of earth so that 
there would be no chance of Lassie either then 
or later getting a taste of the lamb’s blood. 

Then he walked down the hill again and 
examined the wolf more closely. 

“What a beautiful fur rug your hide will 
make,” he said to the dead wolf. “And I know 
right where we will place it in the living room.” 

Farmer John returned later with the team 
and loaded the body of the wolf and that of 
the little lamb. When he arrived at the barn, 
he removed the wolf’s hide and allowed Lassie 
to have a feast on his flesh. 

“You can eat all of the wolves you want to,” 
he said, “but the lamb is going to have a secret 
funeral and be buried where you will never 
find it.” 


50 


OLD ABE 


That night he stood for some time looking 
at Old Abe after the flock had been placed in 
the shelter. 

“Old Abe,” he said, “I can hardly believe 
that you did such a thing, but certainly you 
protected your flock and you deserve a reward. 
I am going to give you a medal.” 

The next morning Farmer John drove to 
Lake Zurich and purchased Old Abe’s reward. 
It was a wide strap with a buckle on one end 
and a beautiful bell to hang in the middle. 
This bell was attached to the strap and the 
strap put around Old Abe’s neck as a reward 
for his bravery in protecting the flock. 



Chapter VIII 


LASSIE PUNISHES OLD ABE 
.THOUGH Old Abe took it upon himself 



x A- to punish almost everyone about the farm, 
whenever he thought they were doing some¬ 
thing they ought not, it never occurred to him 
that he himself might need punishment. 

One day, however, he learned that punish¬ 
ment is likely to come to anyone who needs it. 

Old Abe and his flock were in the barn lot. 
It was a Sunday afternoon. The sun was shin¬ 
ing and everything was peaceful. The flock 
was resting near the shed. Old Abe became a 
little restless. It was one of those days on which 
he wanted excitement; so he started to walk 
about by himself looking for it. 

In the barn lot were a number of chickens, 
including High Flyer, the big red rooster. 
Near the corner of the lot High Flyer had dis¬ 
covered some choice morsel of food. 


51 


52 


OLD ABE 


Old Abe was only a short distance away when 
High Flyer began to cluck, calling the hens 
to the feast. Old Abe thought that this would 
be a wonderful chance for a little excitement 
and he charged right into the group of chickens. 
Of course the hens flew in every direction, but 
Old Abe’s charge, which was aimed toward 
the corner of the fence, caught High Flyer. 

It was a glancing blow and did not hurt the 
rooster. But Old Abe was delighted. Here 
was some excitement. He placed his head 
against the rooster and held him in the corner. 
The rooster of course flapped his wings and 
worked his feet trying to strike Old Abe’s nose. 
But Old Abe had him in such a position that 
the rooster could do no harm. 

What a new experience! Old Abe was en¬ 
joying it immensely, greatly to the detriment 
of High Flyer, for the rooster soon became ex¬ 
hausted and could fight no longer. 

Old Abe knew that he was doing something 
that he should not, because High Flyer had 
never been into mischief and did not deserve 
punishment. But it had not occurred to Old 

















LASSIE PUNISHES OLD ABE 


53 


Abe that he would be punished for bothering 
High Flyer. 

Suddenly, however, he realized that he was 
being attacked from the rear. Something sharp 
gripped his left hind leg. This distracted his 
attention from his amusement and he whirled 
about. As he did so, he saw that Lassie, Farmer 
John’s collie dog, had taken it upon herself to 
do the punishing. He and Lassie had always 
been good friends, but his temper was aroused 
at this attack. He charged at the dog, but Lassie 
jumped quickly aside and caught his hind leg 
in her teeth again as he dashed by. 

This time Lassie was more severe and gripped 
the ram’s leg tightly in her teeth. Old Abe 
did not whirl about for another attack, but 
limped to the shed and lay down, realizing that 
he had been well punished for his charge upon 
the rooster. 


Chapter IX 


OLD ABE MAKES FRIENDS WITH 
SUNSHINE ROSE 

O LD ABE had been on Mosely Hill Farm 
for two or three months before he met 
Sunshine Rose, Roberta’s spotted pony. 

Sunshine Rose was kept in the orchard pas¬ 
ture, and since Old Abe had arrived, the sheep 
had not been put into this pasture. But the 
summer had been dry and most of the other 
pastures were getting so short that one morn¬ 
ing Farmer John took the flock into the orchard. 

Sunshine Rose was at the other end of the 
pasture eating out of a little feed box that 
Roberta had placed on a post near the house. 
Every morning Roberta put some little delicacy 
into this box for Sunshine Rose. 

After her delicacy had been finished, Sun¬ 
shine Rose wandered toward the sheep to see 
who her new friends might be. She imme¬ 
diately began to make friends with Old Abe. 


54 


MAKES FRIENDS WITH SUNSHINE ROSE 55 

At first Old Abe did not like the idea and 
started, as he always did with a new acquain¬ 
tance, to show that he intended to be boss. As 
Sunshine Rose approached where he stood, he 
lowered his head and uttered a long, low 
“Baa-a-a-a.” Sunshine Rose’s advance was en¬ 
tirely friendly and she did not like Old Abe’s 
tone of voice. So she stopped and stood ready 
for him if he should attempt to charge. 

Sure enough, Old Abe had made up his mind 
that he would teach this pony a lesson, and he 
dashed toward her. The pony whirled around 
quickly and struck the ram a glancing blow on 
his shoulder with her hind feet. The big, white, 
woolly ball rolled over and over and up against 
the fence. Old Abe regained his feet again and 
stood blinking his eyes, looking at the pony. 

Sunshine Rose did not attempt to kick him 
again, but approached, apparently in a friendly 
mood. 

“Well,” thought Old Abe, “if the pony wants 
to be friendly, I suppose I might as well be 
friendly, too.” So he stood still. 

Sunshine Rose came closer. When she was a 


56 


OLD ABE 


few feet from the ram she stopped. She 
stretched out her neck and tried to reach him 
with her nose, but she was a little too far away. 
She stepped nearer, stretching her nose to reach 
the face of Old Abe. Finally, she was close 
enough and she rubbed her nose against his. 

This was a new experience for Old Abe. He 
was not accustomed to being treated in this way 
and it surprised him. He hardly knew what 
to do. His training and experience had been 
almost entirely a matter of defense and he 
looked upon every strange animal as an enemy. 

Just at this point, Roberta came to the orchard 
pasture and watched the ram and the pony mak¬ 
ing friends. She climbed up on to the fence and 
slid over on to the pony’s back. Old Abe was 
inclined to scamper away. But the pony with 
the little girl on his back followed him. The 
ram would walk a little way, then stop to take 
a few mouthfuls of grass. The pony followed 
a short distance behind. Along the fence they 
walked and around the small orchard until 
finally they arrived near the entrance gate. 

Roberta slid down from the pony’s back and 



The pony whirled and struc\ Old Abe on the 
shoulder with his hoofs 
57 































MAKES FRIENDS WITH SUNSHINE ROSE 59 


opened the gate to go out. Old Abe stood near 
by. Just as Roberta had the gate opened, a 
strange dog appeared and, seeing the ram, 
dashed past Roberta into the pasture. Old Abe 
started to run, but the strange dog caught his 
right hind leg and bit it sharply. Old Abe 
tried to get away, but the dog jumped on to his 
shoulder, and the ram rolled over in the grass 
two or three times. 

Just as the dog was about to attack again. 
Sunshine Rose showed her friendship for Old 
Abe by arriving just in time to plant a resound¬ 
ing kick on the strange dog’s shoulder. The 
dog rolled over and then dashed for the gate, 
limping and howling in pain. Roberta in the 
meantime had climbed up on to the gate, leav¬ 
ing it partly open. The dog dashed out and 
disappeared. 

Old Abe was standing under one of the trees. 
He began to realize that the pony was his friend. 
From that time on, he and Sunshine Rose al¬ 
ways greeted each other by rubbing noses when¬ 
ever they were in the same pasture. 




Chapter X 


A FIGHT WITH AN EAGLE 

A SHEEP is a peaceful appearing animal. 

And many folks think that a sheep’s life 
is always quiet and peaceful. As a matter of 
fact, most of the adventure centers about the 
head of the flock, and Old Abe, both from a 
sense of duty and also from a love of combat, 
had plenty of adventures on Mosely Hill Farm. 

The one we are about to describe happened 
on an autumn day just about noon when the 
flock had finished its morning grazing and 
the sheep lay about here and there enjoying 
their noon-day nap. 

Old Abe, however, was watchful and lay at 
a point where he could keep his eye on all of the 
flock. Ordinarily, most of the danger to his 
big family was visible from his normal view 
which covered the ground all about where the 
sheep lay. But today a danger came out of 


60 


A FIGHT WITH AN EAGLE 


61 


the sky. Old Abe realized its presence when 
a heavy object with a loud whirring of wings 
flew very near the ground. 

He leaped to his feet and watched the huge 
bird as it circled about overhead, now and then 
swooping near to the earth, but not coming 
near enough for Old Abe to make a charge. 
This was a new danger, and Abe hardly knew 
how to handle the situation. But he stood 
ready, his legs stiff and his eye on the eagle. 

It so happened that the lambs were all rather 
close to where Old Abe stood. Apparently the 
eagle was trying to pick out a lamb that would 
please him for his day’s meal. Of course Abe 
did not know that the eagle’s swoop is so quick 
and that the eagle’s talons seize its prey with 
such perfect accuracy that it is practically im¬ 
possible for a ram to protect his flock against 
such a bird. 

Inasmuch as Old Abe did not know this, 
he prepared for his most important duty. Some¬ 
how he seemed to sense the fact that the eagle 
had selected one of the best lambs of the flock 
that lay a little by itself a short distance from 




62 


OLD ABE 


where Old Abe stood, and when he saw the 
eagle swoop toward this lamb, Old Abe started 
his charge. 

The eagle, however, was too quick for him. 
When the eagle drops, it drops with the speed 
of a rapidly falling object, but its huge wings 
catch its weight and start it back into the air 
again so quickly that there is hardly an instant 
of hesitation at the ground. 

The eagle seized the lamb in its great talons 
and flew away. 

The whole flock was now alert. Old Abe 
recovering from his unsuccessful charge, 
watched the eagle circle about over head. Some¬ 
how his instinct seemed to tell him that he was 
going to have another opportunity at this enemy 
that was so hard to fight. He watched the eagle 
as it flew westward over a clump of trees, then 
started slowly toward this clump of trees, his 
legs stiff and ready for trouble. 

Finally he stopped short. Just below him on 
a huge rock near the bottom of a hill he saw 
the eagle tearing the lamb’s body to pieces. The 
eagle faced the opposite direction and was so 


A FIGHT WITH AN EAGLE 


63 


busy with his dinner that he did not realize that 
trouble was near. 

Old Abe did not wait an instant. He jumped 
and landed on the eagle’s back. 

He did not have an opportunity to attack 
in his usual way, but his four sharp hoofs com¬ 
ing down on the eagle’s back was an effective 
attack. He struck the eagle’s wings in such a 
way as to break both of them. His hind hoofs, 
close together, struck the eagle’s body in a way 
to injure it severely. 

Of course Old Abe rolled off of the rock 
along with the huge bird and was more or less 
stunned when he stopped rolling. He finally 
regained his composure and stood up ready for 
another charge. The eagle’s body lay a short 
distance away, and without stopping to realize 
the danger to himself, Old Abe charged madly 
at it. 

While the eagle’s wings were useless, its 
vicious talons were ready to protect itself, and, 
as Old Abe struck, these talons were sunk 
deeply into both of his shoulders. The force 
of the blow, however, tore the talons loose as 





64 


OLD ABE 


the two rolled over and over. Old Abe’s 
shoulders were bleeding badly. He charged 
again. This time the eagle was too weak to 
protect itself and the big bundle of feathers 
rolled helplessly over into a hole. 

Old Abe believed that his victory was com¬ 
plete, and, bleeding and exhausted, he led his 
flock back to the barn lot. When Farmer John 
came to the shed where the sheep were sheltered 
that evening, he saw Old Abe lying in a 
corner almost lifeless. 

Farmer John quickly bound up the ram’s 
bleeding shoulders and called the veterinary 
doctor. For several days it was doubtful as to 
whether Old Abe would live or not, as he had 
lost so much blood from his wounds. But with 
careful nursing he was soon the champion of 
his flock again. 


















































































